The delays in compliance by states responsible
Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2025 3:55 am
Second, the positive feedback loop that induces states to implement ECtHR judgments is in danger of stalling. Over the last few decades, this virtuous circle has created a culture of compliance that views adherence to Strasbourg judgments as the norm and noncompliance as the problematic exception that can rightfully be challenged by other governments and civil society groups. As the Court has become more skilled at identifying systematic human rights violations, however for those violations have lengthened and are becoming endemic in some countries. In addition to the ongoing harm to the thousands of individuals whose rights continue to be violated, this trend risks generating a vicious circle in which government officials point to public criticisms of the Court and compliance delays in other states to justify noncompliance in their own jurisdictions and to legitimize criticism of those who advocate for adherence to ECtHR rulings.
A final implication of the challenges to human rights adjudication outside of Europe relates to the possibility of a more widespread backlash against the ECtHR. Russia’s recent military and political interventions in the Ukraine, the tens of thousands of applications pending against Russia, and the government’s “traditional values” campaign in the U.N. Human Rights Council and at home are ominous signs of Russia’s growing dissatisfaction with the European Convention and the ECtHR. In fact, it is not beyond contemplation that Russia will create a rival Eurasian human rights regime comprised of a few allies in Eastern Europe and former linkedin database Soviet republics in central Asia. The laws and institutions of such a system may superficially resemble those of the Council of Europe. In reality, however, they would be much weaker. A Eurasian human rights mechanism need not involve Russia’s withdrawal from the European Convention—at least not initially. But even if the country remains nominally subject to the ECtHR’s jurisdiction, its officials can point to the competing decisions of Eurasian human rights bodies to justify and legitimize noncompliance with the Strasbourg Court’s judgments.
The progressive evolution of international human rights laws and institutions should never be taken for granted—even in Europe. To the contrary, these laws and institutions need to be actively nurtured and supported. Such nurturing and support includes providing judges and registry lawyers in Strasbourg with the resources needed to process the backlog of cases. It is far more important, however, to bolster the NGOs, bar associations, national judges, and academics who are the ECtHR’s crucial interlocutors and compliance constituencies. These domestic actors must have the material support and the political space to continue to pressure governments to live up to the aspirations they espoused when creating what remains the world’s most advanced international system for protecting human rights.
A final implication of the challenges to human rights adjudication outside of Europe relates to the possibility of a more widespread backlash against the ECtHR. Russia’s recent military and political interventions in the Ukraine, the tens of thousands of applications pending against Russia, and the government’s “traditional values” campaign in the U.N. Human Rights Council and at home are ominous signs of Russia’s growing dissatisfaction with the European Convention and the ECtHR. In fact, it is not beyond contemplation that Russia will create a rival Eurasian human rights regime comprised of a few allies in Eastern Europe and former linkedin database Soviet republics in central Asia. The laws and institutions of such a system may superficially resemble those of the Council of Europe. In reality, however, they would be much weaker. A Eurasian human rights mechanism need not involve Russia’s withdrawal from the European Convention—at least not initially. But even if the country remains nominally subject to the ECtHR’s jurisdiction, its officials can point to the competing decisions of Eurasian human rights bodies to justify and legitimize noncompliance with the Strasbourg Court’s judgments.
The progressive evolution of international human rights laws and institutions should never be taken for granted—even in Europe. To the contrary, these laws and institutions need to be actively nurtured and supported. Such nurturing and support includes providing judges and registry lawyers in Strasbourg with the resources needed to process the backlog of cases. It is far more important, however, to bolster the NGOs, bar associations, national judges, and academics who are the ECtHR’s crucial interlocutors and compliance constituencies. These domestic actors must have the material support and the political space to continue to pressure governments to live up to the aspirations they espoused when creating what remains the world’s most advanced international system for protecting human rights.